AFGHANISTAN
1. Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan, Mohammad Omer Dawoodzai, met Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Khalid Shamim Wynne. They discussed bilateral defence cooperation. (Baad-e-Shimal, Jinnah)

2. Militants have blown up more than a dozen NATO tankers in the western Afghan province of Farah. (Ausaf)
 
DEFENCE
1.Nawa-i-Waqt hailed Defense Minister’s announcement that Pakistan was building its own drone system and said it should be completed quickly as US drone strikes in the tribal areas were killing innocent people, despite Pakistan’s protests. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)

TERRORISM/EXTREMISM/ANTI-ISLAM FILM
1. Acts like making an anti-Islam film or cartoons are not acts of ignorance but acts of enmity against Islam and Muslims. This is another opportunity for Muslims should shun their habit of begging in front of the West, get rid of their war and close down all ties, monetary and diplomatic, with the West.  Now Muslims will ‘have to do something’ and if the West doesn’t  understand words, then an announcement of jihad should be made. (Al Qalam Weekly Edit, 21 September to 27 September)

2.Islamabad IG claimed that the demonstration was peaceful initially but when members of defunct extremist organizations and students from Rawalpindi joined, it turned violent.  (Jasarat)

3. Jasarat editorially welcome the government’s decision of a national holiday today and the announcement of the celebration of ‘Youm-e-Ishaq-e-Rasool’. (Jasarat Edit)

4.JuD and the Motorcycle Union organized a rally against the blasphemous film in Rawalakot. (Daily Dharti)

5. Taliban commander Maulvi Nazir has given a strike call in South Waziristan today against the anti-Islam film. (Jasarat)

6. Interior Minister Rahman Malik said that the Army had been put on alert for today’s rallies; he said that if required, the Army would be summoned to Islamabad. He said that Thursday’s protests had turned violent as the protestors included some activists from LeJ and Sipah-e-Sahaba. Malik alleged that despite Islamabad Police’s urging, Punjab Police did not stop protestors in Punjab itself and they were allowed to enter the capital. (Ibrat)

7. Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the Punjab government was behind the violent demonstrations. He said that it was the Punjab government’s responsibility to stop demonstrators, but they didn’t take any action. He said that students should not inflict any damage on government property. Kaira said this method of protest was wrong. He also said that every protection will be provided to US diplomats. (Urdupoint, Ausaf, Ibrat)

8. Federal police have made a new plan in view of protests over the anti-Islam film; according to this plan, the police will not allow protesters to enter the Dastur Highway in Islamabad. Another report states that people arrested yesterday have been released and in view of protests today, holidays of police and administrative officers have been cancelled. (Ausaf)

POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
1. Former Sindh Interior Minister Zulfikar Mirza expected a high post in Sindh before the elections. President Zardari was trying to woo Mirza through back channels for a month and as a result, Mirza pledged his loyalty to Zardari in yesterday’s meeting. Another report claims that may be the next federal Interior Minister in place of Rahman Malik, following SC’s orders. (Ibrat)

2. PPP leader Aitzaz Ahsan said that if the SC had accepted Presidential immunity during former PM Gilani’s tenure, there wouldn’t have been any acrimony between the government and the judiciary. Ahsan reiterated that the President had immunity through the Constitution as well as international laws. (Urdupoint)

3. Federal minister Syed Sumsam Ali Shah Bukhari said that they accept the SC’s verdict on dual nationality. Bukhari said that many PML-N MNAs also had dual nationalities but their names had not been mentioned so far. (Jasarat)

4. JI’s Majlis-e-Shura has demanded that government announce the election dates and set up the caretaker government. This would be a safe exit for leaders who had thrown the nation into chaos. (Jasarat)

5.  PML-Q MNA Riyaz Hussein Pirzada met PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and expressed his wish to join PML-N. Sources said that the formal announcement would be made at the Hasilpur conference. (Khabrain)

6.  After SC’s verdict against MNAs holding dual nationality, continuance of Rehman Malik as Interior Minister is untenable. (Nawa-i-Waqt Edit)

7. It is the responsibility of the Election Commission and political parties that candidates with dual nationalities enter the fray since Article 63 clearly says that MNAs should be loyal only to Pakistan.  (Ummat Edit

ECONOMY-WATER- ENERGY
1.PM Ashraf, during his visit to Gilgit-Baltistan Council, said that the federal government will provide all resources for the development of Gilgit-Baltistan. He also sanctioned the budget for the next year. He said that the Bhasha Dam will help in the development and progress of Gilgit-Baltistan. (Daily Pak, Ummat)

SINDH
1. Former Sindh Interior Minister Zulfikar Mirza expected a high post in Sindh before the elections. President Zardari was trying to woo Mirza through back channels for a month and as a result, Mirza pledged his loyalty to Zardari in yesterday’s meeting. Another report claims that Mirza had been given the responsibility to organize the party and make it more active. The Ibrat report says that Mirza may be made PPP Sindh chief. It says that Mirza had sought that Rahman Malik and Babar Aiwan be stripped off their ministerial posts and soon after that, Aiwan went out of the scene. Now there is an SC order against Rahman Malik and hence, as desired by Mirza, he too will soon be out of the scene. The Ibrat report says that Zulfikar Mirza has been asked to mobilize support in Sindh for the controversial ordinance on local government system. (Jasarat, Ausaf, Ibrat)

2. District leader of Jiye Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) Mohammad Ali Khoro was abducted from near Sachal village in Karachi yesterday. JSMM’s Karachi division leader has warned of an agitation if Khoro is not produced. He blamed government bodies of being behind this abduction. (Awami Awaz)

3. Jiye Sindh Mahaz took out a rally in Sindh against the ordinance on the local government system in Sindh, the harassment of Hindus that is forcing them to migrate to India and against the proposed city of Zulfikarabad. (Ibrat)

PUNJAB
1. Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif said that people could sacrifice their lives for the holiness of Prophet. Sharif also said that the Punjab government expressed its anger and sadness on the blasphemous film and urged the protestors to be peaceful. (Ausaf)

BALOCHISTAN
1. EDIT refers to SC remark that the government had interfered in the judiciary’s affairs by calling in the UN team on the issue of missing persons in Balochistan while the hearing of the case was underway in the SC. Edit writes that CJP Iftekhar Chaudhry said that if the PM and the President could not do anything on the issue of Balochistan, then the Court could also call the Governor before the bench. Edit writes that Punjab should understand its responsibilities towards Balochistan and should think on how it will deliver a message to Balochistan that it understood its people’s deprivation and was willing to end this. (Ausaf Edit)

2. EDIT agrees with SC’s contention that there was no need to invite a foreign delegation to work on the case of missing persons in Balochistan when the SC was taking an interest in the issue. Edit says that the inefficient government was responsible for this. (Daily Intekhab Edit)

POK/ G-B NEWS
1. Gilgit-Baltistan government has put Gilgit on high alert and decided to deploy Army at entry points in view of possible terrorist attacks. (Baad-e-Shimal)

2. Chairman of NA’s Kashmir Committee, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, while hailing British MP Galloway for providing articles for Kashmiris, said that in the past as well, Galloway had played an important role for the cause; he urged other British MPs to support him. (Baad-e-Shimal)

3. JKLF Supreme Head Amanullah Khan has appealed to the Pakistani media to play a positive role in resolving the Kashmir issue. He added that Pakistan had distanced itself from the demand for right to self-determination for Kashmiris by signing the Shimla Pact. The formula given by JKLF would resolve the Kashmir issue forever without wasting either blood or money. (Daily Dharti)

4. Federal government released Rs. 1.35 billion to Gilgit-Baltistan. This money will be used to payback all bounced cheques to contractors. (Ausaf)

5. Gilgit-Baltistan CM Mehdi Shah, in his meeting with PM Ashraf, requested that   power to appoint ministers for departments that have been transferred to Gilgit-Baltistan under the 18th amendment. (Baad-e-Shimal)

6. Former Vice President of the J&K Muslim Conference Sardar Razak Khan said that making Gilgit-Baltistan a province of Pakistan would sabotage the Kashmir cause. He said that Gilgit-Baltistan was constitutionally and legally a part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. (Daily Dharti)

7.Gilgit-Baltistan truck owners have threatened to block passenger vans as they claim the government was not listening to their demands. Their strike entered the eighth day but the Gilgit-Baltistan government had not bothered to get in touch with them and address their concerns. (Baad-e-Shimal)

8. EDIT on Goods Transport Association’s strike [[points out that the Basham Truck Owners’ Association has been forcing trucks to stop at Basham and this causes losses to truck owners. Edit is appalled at how the Basham Truck Owners’ Association has demanded a compensation for losses from the Gilgit-Baltistan government. (Baad-e-Shimal Edit)